It's always the first to go. Exercise, friends, social life stay on the list...it's sleep that I sacrifice. My list of resolutions is short (and includes the even-more mundane 'go to one yoga class a week'), and this is at the top. Sleep needs to win the daily rock-paper-scissors more often. I'd like to say it's because I want to save energy...and I guess it is - my own!

I think we need a new politics in Canada. We need to think outside the box about who we are, what we believe in and who is best able to represent our values in the political realm.

Last week, I took the plunge...

This week I had my second ballroom dancing lesson, and so far so good.

I now have the basic steps down for the fox trot, the cha-cha (I can't help saying that out loud as I type this) and swing. He even threw in a Cuban walk (in the cha-cha) and a few turns. It's pretty challenging, but in a good way.

I've been talking a lot about urban community building with friends and acquaintances lately, as I lament how people in this city don't go out of their way to connect with anybody - it's like we're alone in a world full of people.  Sure, we've got friends, but what about how we treat strangers?

I have to say that Vancouver is not always as friendly a place as other parts of BC.  There's the urban cool, smileless expression (usually accompanied by a cellphone, the urban tool for deterring spontaneous, in-person conversation and to imply an impossibly busy life) that so many people have, especially downtown.  

However, I think I've cracked the code.  Two words (prepare yourself, they're a little 'woo woo Vancouver') - smile therapy.  An Islander friend of mine was visiting me a few months ago and observed how I rarely noticed strangers, period.  I was aghast - I never used to be like this!  I remembered back six years ago when I moved into my first apartment in Vancouver (after eight years on the Island) and struck fear into the heart of my young Kitsilano neighbour for having the audacity to spontaneously introduce myself.  I think she thought I was crazy or on something...

I am so with you on that.  Me, I can get up early - I just can't get out early.  Coffee is not the issue, attitude is.  I am getting on this pronto.

A wise friend told me recently lot of our ideas of "success" - whether in the work or personal arenas - have to do with being concerned about what other people think of us and our choices.  Our culture pressures us all to conform and to want what everyone else wants. Others' perceptions of us then kind of morph into our identity - how we perceive ourselves.